Movie Review) 'The Scam,' a satiric homage to money, money-chasers

By Shin Hae-in
SEOUL, Jan. 29 (Yonhap) -- It seemed all that could be turned into a movie had
been, as South Korea's film industry expanded four-fold in less than two decades
to make topics like North Korea, judgment of past authoritarian governments and
even homosexuality so passe.
But until now there had never been a local movie dealing with what is one of the
key preoccupations in Asia's fourth-largest economy: the stock market and the
brains who secretly manipulate it.
"The Scam (Jakjeon)," emerging director Lee Ho-jae's first feature film, proves
that South Korean blockbusters are again ready to leap over thematic limitations
that have threatened to slacken the industry's growth in recent years.
The film keeps its humor while portraying the masterminds behind the country's
stock market bubble, a satirical spin on money and its pathetic chasers that
entertains even those who suffered large losses in the unpredictable market.
Hyeon-su (Park Yong-ha) is an unemployed 30-something Seoulite who initially
dreams of becoming an actor before falling victim to the so-called "Dot-com
bubble," losing all his savings on stocks and becoming a credit defaulter.
Lee speedily but accurately conjures up the NASDAQ-sparked bubble of the late
1990s from a speculative jump into development of Internet-related technologies,
implying that such miscalculations can and do reoccur.
Vowing to earn back all his lost money, the downtrodden Hyeon-su locks himself up
in a small room and spends five years eating nothing but Chinese takeout and
studying the principles of the stock market.
After emerging from his self-imposed isolation, our hero chases after a
supposedly blue-chip stock that actually turns out to be a product of mediocre
manipulation by a former gangster and earns 70 million won (US$50,800) in less
than a week.
Hyeon-su's luck takes an ill-fated turn when the former gangster tracks him down
and forces him to arrange a 60-billion-won stock rigging project that involves
hot-shot fund managers, finance journalists and private bankers.
Involved in a life-threatening game of stakes, Hyeon-su realizes that average
middle-class men like himself can never hit the jackpot in a market maneuvered by
those in the upper classes.
"Rich people are even worse," he tells his brother. "They take away all that
retail investors have and essentially kill them off."
An intriguing plot and swift pace helps audiences lose track of the film's
relatively lengthy running time of 119 minutes.
Although light and cheery, the message is clear -- never be fooled by the bubble
and never try to make money the easy way.
"It's like smoking," Hyeon-su tells a lowly gang member who asks him to teach him
stocks. "A smoker would never offer cigarettes to a non-smoker. Likewise, I would
never offer anyone stock investments."
The film hits local theaters Feb. 12.
hayney@yna.co.kr
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